Evangelical protestants are the fastest-growing religious denomination in Ohio.
The strength of white evangelical voters has been instrumental in the successful election of Republicans going back to Richard Nixon in 1972. They also heavily supported the presidential campaign of Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976.
“Religion is an institution," said Korie Little Edwards, an associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University . “It's an institution that is led by leaders and people who follow those leaders. It is an institution of networks of religious organizations and denominations, and so that still has a good deal of influence and power.”
Edwards has written about the intersections of race and religion with a particular focus on multi-racial churches and the Black church. Her books include The Elusive Dream, The Power of Race in Interracial Churches and Smart Suits, Tattered Boots: Black Ministers Mobilizing the Black Church in the Twenty-First Century.
“Religion has a particularly unique role in the United States, that goes beyond just being places of worship and community,” Edwards said.
RELATED - State of Religion: Ohio's religious tapestry - the historical roots and cultural evolution
U.S. Religion Census data shows that in Ohio, evangelical protestants made up 19.7% of the population in 2020. In 1980, they made up 8% of the population.
In central Ohio, evangelical protestants in Franklin County were 6.2% of the population in 1980. Since then, they have added more members, coming to total 20.8% in 2020.
Catholics attending services in Ohio dropped more than 7% to 15% of the population between 1980 and 2020. The Catholic Diocese of Columbus declined an interview request for WOSU’s State of Religion series.
Mainline protestants in Ohio were about 6.8% of the population in 2020.
“These multi-racial churches are evangelical, they're Catholic and to the lesser degree, to a lesser extent, but still the case, mainline protestant, what we would consider maybe more progressive protestant,” Edwards said. “But they are not necessarily a backlash against predominantly white religious organizations, as much as they are a sense of a movement toward what they consider to be, how Christianity should be lived out. A unity across racial lines.”
Pastor Timothy Clarke of First Church of God, on Refugee Road, has led the congregation for 42 years. Today, about 3,000 faithful, mostly African Americans, attend his church. He calls it an evangelical church, but said he would like to see a new definition for the term evangelical.
The word evangelical comes from the Greek word for “good news.”
Clarke calls it spreading, telling and sharing the good news.
“There's been this debate as to whether or not we ought to change our name, because the terms evangelical and evangelicalism have taken so many blows. I argue, rather than capitulate and surrender to forces that don't represent who we are, we have to redeem it, reclaim it, rebaptize it, reintroduce it,” Clarke said.
Clarke serves on the board of directors at the National Association of Evangelicals.
He is proud of the tradition of Black churches’ involvement in the civil rights and social justice movements. But Clarke believes that the use of religion in politics is accepted depending upon which religious group is involved. He described when civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson ran for U.S. president in the 1980s.
“When it was us supporting Jesse, that wasn't good,” said Clarke. “But if they want to support Reagan or they wanted to support, I would say Nixon too and certainly want to support Donald Trump, then they're free to do that.”
RELATED - State of Religion: Christian conservatism and its influence on Ohio legislation
Clarke described himself as pro-life, but for those who loudly oppose abortion.
“I think some people are pro-birth. They're not pro-life. Because life doesn't end after the babies are born,” Clarke said.
At One Church in Gahanna, Pastor Greg Ford oversees a growing congregation. He said it is ethnically and politically diverse. About 3,000 people worship in person weekly, while 2,000 listen online, though Ford said that diversity can create conflict.
“I think where it gets pretty dicey, and I think it can get not healthy pretty quickly, is when we start going, one side of the aisle is good, and the other side of the aisle is evil,” Ford said. “I think when churches or Christians use every political issue or political candidates to make it a good and evil, I think that's really unhealthy.”
Paul Djupe, a professor of political science at Denison University, said despite an emphasis on Christian values by some segments of the country, he does not think they are in control.
“Given the fragmentation of religion in Ohio, it's hard to say that any particular group has a whole lot of influence,” Djupe said. “However, the parties are looking to kind of aggregate these folks together. And so, you know, they're trying to use public policy that would appeal to evangelicals, that would appeal to Catholics. And so, pro-life legislation would certainly be one of those, pro-life activism.”
Djupe said 40 years ago, Catholics were dominant in central Ohio. Today, the non-religious, sometimes called nones, including atheists and agnostics, is the largest single grouping in Ohio, comprising about 40%.
Also growing are the number of Muslims, who currently comprise 3.2% of the population in Franklin County.
Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR Ohio, Khalid Turaani, said about 100,000 Muslims live in central Ohio. About 60% of the Muslims are Somalis.
RELATED - State of Religion: Ohio lawmakers on faith and policy
During the current presidential cycle, Turaani's main concern as an activist has been the Democratic presidential ticket. He was co-founder of the Abandon Biden campaign, which focused on persuading Muslim voters in swing states like Michigan not to vote for Biden because of the war in Gaza.
“I think that is a win for the Abandon Biden campaign,” said Turaani. “When we said 'abandon Biden,' we were hoping that either we're going to defeat him or that he would be replaced. And the fact that he is replaced, I think that was definitely a positive step.”
CAIR, a 501(c)(3) does not endorse candidates, but Turaani said the group is organizing to train community activists and remind people to register to vote.
Isaac Weiner, a professor of comparative studies and director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Ohio State University , led a project examining the sounds of religion.
Weiner said conservative Christians, Muslims, Jews and others have found common ground on certain issues, as well as liberal groups from different denominations.
He also said more conservative Christians are using religious freedom to argue they do not have to follow certain kinds of anti-discrimination measures passed into law to protect those in the LGBTQ community and other minorities.
Weiner added many evangelical Christians in particular think of themselves as a minority, whose own rights are at risk, especially around controversial topics like sexuality and LGBTQ rights.
“And that’s something where I think religious communities have a lot to actually teach and offer as well,” Weiner said. “To think about what it means to be part of a community and how we negotiate and navigate difference involves being able to listen and think not only about what we are owed, but what we owe to others as well.”
